Union official: 'Solidarity' is key for striking BP Refinery workers

Three weeks after they walked off the job at BP Whiting Refinery with no end to the strike in sight, members of United Steelworkers Local 7-1 were urged Saturday to stay the course and not cross the picket lines.

"Solidarity is the key. It's they only way to protect our contract," Steve Garey, a member of the National Oil Bargaining Policy Committee, told several hundred striking members and their spouses at a Saturday rally at Lloyd McBride Local 1014 union hall in Gary.

"We cannot betray each other," Garey said.

Garey stressed it's important for the union members to make a sacrifice now for their long-term benefit and the benefit for future generations of oil workers.

USW members at the Whiting refinery earn between $80,000 and $100,000 a year with overtime, money they aren't receiving during the strike. While there is some money in a strike fund, union officials say it is providing members with a lot less money than what they normally take home.

While none of the USW members working at the Whiting refinery have crossed the picket line as yet, Jim Savage, another member of the national bargaining committee, said some members have at other striking locations, as have some members of other unions, a fact he called discouraging.

The USW called a national strike against the oil companies on Feb 1, beginning with nine refineries in four states, after it said national talks with Shell Oil Co. broke off. One week later, the union extended the strike to include BP refineries in Whiting and Toledo, Ohio, and last week, extended it again to include a total of 15 refineries and some production facilities, affecting 6,550 workers.

The main issues on the national level have been safety, long mandatory working hours and the use of contract employees for jobs traditionally done by USW members.

Savage said talks have not gone well with a number of locals and the companies they work for, either.

In Whiting, Dave Danko, president of Local 7-1, said the focus of talks with BP have also been on safety, long work hours and use of contract workers, in addition to the continuation of the local's bargaining rights, which he said BP wants to take away.

BP spokesman Scott Dean has said that safety is the company's top priority. He's added that BP believes the management of the refinery should retain the right to use the right mix of trained and skilled craftspeople to ensure the safe and efficient operation of the refinery.

Savage said one of the main questions he's asked by USW members is why the national bargaining team didn't call for members at all 65 refineries and more than 200 production facilities in the U.S. to go out on strike at once.

The BP Whiting Refinery reportedly had a third major flare-up in four days on Thursday, this time sending black smoke 100 feet into the air.

"We can see it from the (union) hall," said a striking member of United Steelworkers Local 7-1 who answered the phone at the hall but didn't want to be named.

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He said the reason was two-fold: to keep the government from interfering with this labor dispute and to retain some bargaining power if negotiations don't progress.

"If we fire all our bullets out of our gun on day one, what do we say later? If you don't come to the table, we'll do what," Savage said.

Meanwhile, the USW said talks with Shell are scheduled to resume on Wednesday. A representative of Local 7-1 said talks between the local and BP are expected to take place one day this week.